100 Years Ago - General Theory of Relativity

On this day in 1915, Albert Einstein submitted his paper "The field equations of gravitation" which give the correct field equations for general relativity.

Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921
photo by Ferdinand Schmutzer

YRARC Hamfest in the News

Another hamfest is behind us. With over 500 guests and rooms full of vendors, it was a busy event. Pictures will be forthcoming shortly but meanwhile here's some coverage from our local media - snapd Markham.

The Moon Rising

Not exactly ham radio related unless you're into EME, this spectacular video of the Moon rising is well worth watching. I rather like the silhouette of the bird near the end.

Minutes – YRARC BOD Meeting 2015-10-20

Meeting held in the Magna Centre, general purpose room 1. Called to Order at 19;00 by Chris VE3NRT. Board members attending: Chris VE3NRT, Steve VE3UT, John VA3JI, Geoff VA3GS, Eric VE3EB, Barry VA3LLT, David VA3DCY, Rob VE3RQB, Doug VE3ATP and Alf VA3BLE. Others attending: none.

1. Agenda: Chris VE3NRT. Adopted, moved by Barry VA3LLT, seconded by Geoff VA3GS. Carried.
   
2. Minutes: David VA3DCY. Moved by Barry VA3LLT, seconded by John VA3JI to accept the minutes of the 2015/09/15 BoD meeting. Carried
   
3. Treasurer's Report: John VA3JI.
   
   • Opening balance 2015/09/30 [available to members on request]. Income: Dues $25.00, Sale of ATX500 $200.00, Hamfest $1,127.00. Total 1,352.00
     
   • Expenditures: Insurance $1,094.04, Prizes $602.75, Bank fees (PayPal) $3.13, Frames for certificates $28.18, Total $1,728.10
     
   • Balance 2015/10/20 [available to members on request]
     
   • Thanks to Rick VA3VO for selling the ATX500.
     
   • Moved by John VA3JI, seconded by Geoff VA3GS to accept the treasurer's report. Carried.
     
4. Blog: Chris VE3NRT provided a short update on the latest blog statistics.
   
5. By-laws: Chris VE3NRT asked Alf VA3BLE for a list of paid voting members with name, call sign and email address. The revised and final versions of the bylaws will be emailed to members.
   
6. Property: Rob VE3RQB has made a list of the container contents. Steve VE3UT and Geoff VA3GS will identify what is scrap and what is to be kept. The 6m repeater and batteries were added to the property list. We are waiting for Peter VE3PBT to acquire parts for the BBQ repair. Motions 2015-10-20-1 moved by Barry VA3LLT, seconded by Eric VE3EB to approve $200.00 for ongoing general repairs to the trailer. Carried
   
7. Repeaters: Steve VE3UT
   
   • 4 new (to us) batteries were installed at the VE3YRC UHF site at Yonge/Bloomington. In addition all levels are good at the site. Thanks to Bruce VE3BV for the borrowed test generator. Messages on the repeaters have been updated for the hamfest.
     
   • IRLP/Echolink: Chris VE3NRT is waiting for a cable for the IRLP project.
     
   • D-STAR: Chris VE3NRT. Gord Hewit VE3GIH has been working on the firewall at the VE3YRK site, and some ports may be blocked. Chris and Gord to investigate.
     
8. Events and public Service: Eric VE3EB thanked those who participated in The Run for the Cure on Oct 4.
   
9. We need drivers to tow the trailer(s) in the Newmarket Santa Claus parade on Nov 21 and the Aurora parade on Nov 28. The Aurora parade is in the evening and if we participate, we will need lots of lights.
   
10. Meetings: Geoff VA3GS reported that the speaker for the October meetings is Dave VE3KCL speaking on balloons. January will be 'junk-in-the-trunk', February will be a travellogue, March will be Mike VE3MKX speaking on fraud, and April or May will be Barry VE3ISX speaking on remote stations. Other possible topics/speakers could be a demonstration of IRLP/Echo Link or antennae by Bob VE3WY.
    
11. Membership: Alf VA3BLE reported on paid memberships to October 12. We have:
    
    • 12 additional members (10 regular plus 2 family) with and $310.00 received for a total of
      
    • 43 Regular memberships, 5 Family memberships 6 additional members, and 7 Life members.
      
12. Hamfest: Geoff VA3GS reported we have allocated 8 tables for public relations, including RAC, QSL and CLARA, 3 club tables and 3 demo tables. Setup bill be at 13:00 on Friday Oct 30. at the Markham Fair Grounds The Aurora Lyons Club will be serving a breakfast of pancakes and sausages. We will provide tea and coffee. 27 members have signed-up to assist.
    
    • Two cash floats will be required, one for admissions and one for the grand prizes.
      
    • On Friday, Steve VE3UT will deliver the EmComm trailer and Doug VE3ATP will deliver the tower trailer.
      
13. December meeting: Motions 2015-10-20-2 moved by Geoff VA3GS, seconded by Rob VE3RQB to approve $325.00 for food at the December meeting. Carried.
    
14. Other business: On November 18, Chris VE3NRT has been invited to the Makers Show at the David Dunlap Observatory. His topic will be “This is Not Your Father's HAM Radio!”
    

Meeting adjourned at 20:40. Moved by Rob VE3RQB and seconded by John VA3JI. Carried.

Lest We Forget

YRARC General Meeting - Minutes 2015-10-06

Meeting held in the Sharon Temple (Temperance Hall). Called to Order at 19:30 by Chris VE3NRT. Total members and guests attending: 35

1. Welcome & Introductions – Chris VE3NRT
   
2. Adoption of Minutes from the general meeting, 2015/09/01 deferred until November.
   
3. By-laws – Chris VE3NRT. The current by-laws (#6) are being revised to update the wording, and the updated version will be circulated to the club membership. Then proposed revisions will be made to the by-laws. The target date for revisions is January 2016. Proxy voting to the changes will be allowed.
   
4. Treasurer’s Report – John VA3JI
   
   • September: Opening balance [available to members on request]. Expenditures: $15 plaques, $14 parking (for repeater maintenance), $240.69 post office box, $1.32 bank fees (PayPal). Income: $345 hanfest, $740 dues, $700 honouraria (for summer public service duties at Mt. Albert and the Aurora Street Festival.
     
   • October: Opening balance [available to members on request]. Expenditures: $280 hamfest grand prizes. Income: $429, $25 dues. Closing balance as at Oct 6 [available to members on request]
     
   • Moved to adopt the treasurer's report Barry VE3LLT, seconded Bill VE3QB. Carried.
     
5. Membership Report – Alf VA3BLE. To date 49 members have paid.
   
6. Public Service Report – Eric VE3EB. There were 2 recent events, Sharon Temple Illumination on September 11 and CIBC Run for a Cure on October 4.
   
7. EmComm Report – Don VE3IXJ. The EmComm group meets on the second Thursday of the month, and the next meeting will be on October 8 at the Newmarket Community Centre. The cross-band repeater worked well at the recent Mono Cliffs race in Dufferin County.
   
8. Repeater Committee Report – Steve VE3UT. The repeaters are in good shape and all are linked. The IRLP/Echo Link is down and Chris VE3NRT is in the process of replacing the the old computer with a Raspberry Pi.
   
9. Hamfest Report – Geoff VA3GS. The date of the Hamfest is Saturday October 31, with setup on Friday. Members are asked to sign up for this event.
   
10. Awards
    
    • Eric VE3EB and Steve VE3UT were jointly awarded the Harvey Bell award.
      
    • Bruce EVV was presented with a certificate of appreciation for 10 years work at the prize table.
      
    • Nick VE3NJV was presented with a certificate of appreciation for 10 years work at providing refreshments.
      
11. Other business
    Winter field day planning is beginning. See Steve VE3UT or Rick VA3VO for details.
    

Guest Speaker: Paul Delaney from York University spoke about Pluto the planet, now reclassified as a dwarf planet. His talk included many images of Pluto, ranging from older fuzzy images taken from earth, to highly detailed images taken close up from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.

YRARC General Meeting - Minutes 2015-09-01

Meeting held in the Sharon Temple. Called to Order at 19:33 by Chris VE3NRT. Total members and guests attending: 41

1. Welcome & Introductions – Chris VE3NRT
   
2. Adoption of Minutes from the general meeting, 2015/06/02, moved Rick VA3VO, seconded Bill VA3QB carried. Motion 2015-09-01-01
   
3. Adoption of Minutes from the AGM, 2015/06/02, moved Rick VA3VO, seconded Anthony VE3HIS. Carried. Motion 2015-09-01-02
   
4. General Announcements – Chris VE3NRT
   
   • The 6m net continues on Monday between 8 and 9 pm.
     
   • Motion to approve the non-recurring expenses paid by the board since the last general meeting of $90 for trailer parking pads, $50 for trailer data cabling, $50 for name plates and awards, $100 for trailer maintenance, $20 for trailer retainers for cable containers and $40 for frames for recognition awards. Moved by Chris VA3DXZ, seconded by John VE3IPS. Carried. Motion 2015-09-01-03
     
5. Field Day Report – Steve VE3UT
   
   • This year the Melted Coffee Pot award for overcoming adversity at FD went to Roger VE3ROG. We had our best score in 3 years: 2015: 3752 total points (2014: 3598 points, 2013: 3496 points). Even though attendance was lower, in spite of the nasty weather total QSOs were 1200 higher (1177, 1240). 40m phone was up 271 (0, 103), 40m CW was up 522 (306, 255), but some other bands were down.
6. Treasurer’s Report – John VA3JI
   
   • 2015 Year-end Balance 2015-07-01 [available to members on request] including $205 in pre-paid memberships.
     
   • July expenditures: $874 communication trailer insurance, $100 trailer maintenance, $1.66 Paypal fees. Income $278.30 food refunds. Month-end balance [available to members on request]
     
   • August expenditures: $1.66 Paypal fees, $11.30 trailer maintenance. Income: $252 Hamfest prepayment. Closing balance [available to members on request]
     
7. Membership Report – Alf VA3BLE. We have 7 prepaid members and 28 have paid tonight. This included 3 family members.
   
8. Public Service Report – provided by Eric VE3EB
   
   • Upcoming events include the Sharon Temple Illumination on September 11 and CIBC Run for a Cure on October 4.
     
   • Thanks from Don VE3IXJ for help with the Newmarket jazz festival and mention of being able to warn of an approaching storm.
     
   • John VA3KOT (Dufferin County) asked for assistance at their Chase the Coyote race in Mono Cliffs on September 26 from 9 to 12.
     
9. EmComm Report – Chris VE3NRT
   
   • The next meeting will be on September 10 at the Newmarket Community Centre, which will include a discussion on Winlink.
     There will be a SET in November. The York Regional Headquarters in Newmarket has a new repeater installed (Chan 90) to overcome the problem of simplex not working within the building.
     
10. Repeater Committee Report – Steve VE3UT. The repeaters are in good shape and all are linked. The IRLP/Echo Link is down and Chris VE3NRT is investigating replacing the old computer with a Raspberry Pi. Battery backup for the sites is in progress and VE3YRA has the best backup.
    
11. Hamfest Report – Geoff VA3GS. The date of the Hamfest is Saturday October 31, with setup on Friday. Members are asked to sign up for this event. (At the end of the meeting 13 members had signed up.)
    
12. Splatter Update – Chris VE3NRT. The blog was established in 2013 to replace the printed Splatter. The contents include meeting minutes, club news, technical articles, and profiles of older members. The goal is to make 1 post per day, and viewership is increasing. The blog is viewable on all platforms. The blog needs relevant articles and comments to help improve our rating with search engines. We are encouraged to create links to the blog, read the blog and encourage others to read the blog, write articles and submit pictures, especially historical photos. At the moment we have 60 visits per day, and at 5000 per day, revenue from Adsense would fund all of the clubs activities. The blog could also replace our current web site http://www.yrarc.org/
    

Guest Speaker: Dave VE3OOI spoke on Amateur Radio and Model Rocketry. Meeting adjourned at 21:30